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I'm VOA's Joe Ramsey with your worldwide news update.
Russian state news agencies are reporting ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad has arrived in Moscow and received asylum from his longtime ally. AP correspondent Karen Chammas reports. The agencies, TASS and RIA, cited an unidentified Kremlin source Assad reportedly left Syria early Sunday. RIA also cited an anonymous Kremlin source that Moscow had received guarantees from Syrian insurgents of the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria. I'm Karen Chammas. U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the collapse of the Syrian government, noting there is opportunity but also risk ahead. AP correspondent Jackie Quinn reports. "At long last, the Assad regime has fallen." In remarks at the White House, President Biden says after decades of repression, "brutalized and tortured and killed literally hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians. The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice. It's a moment of historic opportunity." But it also comes with risk. "For years, the main backers of Assad have been Iran, Hezbollah and Russia." The president says U.S. policy in Israel and Ukraine helped weaken the Syrian government's allies and he says they will continue being watchful for any signs of a terrorist uprising. "We're clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum." He says U.S. forces have already taken preemptive strikes against ISIS camps. I'm Jackie Quinn. The White House says Biden met with his national security team Sunday for an update on the situation in Syria. The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria, including U.S. forces working with Kurdish allies in the opposition-held northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group. This is VOA News. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is pushing Russian leader Vladimir Putin to act to reach an immediate cease-fire with Ukraine. Trump describes it as part of his active efforts to end the war despite being weeks from taking office. Trump in an interview Sunday also said he would be open to reducing military aid to Ukraine and pulling the United States out of the 30-country security alliance, NATO. Analysts in New Delhi say India does not support the creation of a shared currency among the nine-nation BRICS grouping. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi. India is not pursuing the creation of a common BRICS currency, a potential initiative that has met with strong pushback from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. He has threatened 100 percent tariffs on products from the nine-member BRICS bloc if it replaces the U.S. dollar with another currency or backs an alternative to the greenback. Analysts say mistrust and differences between major BRICS members, such as India and China, are a huge stumbling block in moving ahead with a shared currency. Chintamani Mahapatra is with the Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies. "India is not supportive of this particular initiative. Any common currency is not going to help anyone. Only the dominant countries like China ultimately will dictate. So it is very difficult to develop a consensus to have a common currency." Talk of a BRICS currency gained some momentum in 2022 after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia following the Ukraine war and growing tensions between the West and China. Anjana Pasricha, VOA News, New Delhi. New York City's mayor says authorities have identified the man suspected of killing UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson. Reuters correspondent Jillian Kitchener reports. New York City Mayor Eric Adams was quoted by The New York Post as saying police were withholding the suspect's name for now to deny him any advantage. Adams was quoted as saying, "We revealed his face," referring to security camera photos and video released after the murder. He added, quote, "We're going to reveal who he is and we're going to bring him to justice." Fifty-year-old Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance unit, was shot in the back on Wednesday morning in what police described as a targeted attack by a masked assailant lying in wait. The murder occurred just before the company's annual investor conference at a Manhattan hotel. A massive manhunt is underway after police say the gunman immediately fled into Central Park. Reuters correspondent Jillian Kitchener. That wraps up this update, but the world and news never stop. For additional updates, visit our website, voanews.com. I'm Joe Ramsey, VOA News. |